The Board has granted service connection for diabetes mellitus and denied service connection for neuropathy of the bilateral upper extremities, right lower extremity, left lower extremity, and short-term memory loss. The Veteran's diabetes mellitus is presumed due to herbicide exposure at U-Tapao Royal Thai Air Force Base.
The deciding factor: The evidence supports a finding that the Veteran was exposed to herbicides during service at U-Tapao Royal Thai Air Force Base in Thailand, which is considered presumptive for certain diseases including diabetes mellitus. The Board found no credible evidence of neuropathy or short-term memory loss related to service and denied these claims.
- Claimed conditions
- diabetes mellitus, neuropathy of the right upper extremity, neuropathy of the left upper extremity, neuropathy of the right lower extremity, neuropathy of the left lower extremity, short-term memory loss
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Burn pits / airborne hazards
- Rating assigned
- 100%
- Decision date
- August 27, 2019
- Citation
- 19166601
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,035 · Granted: 30% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 19166601.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, prostate cancer, visual impairment, hypertension, and erectile dysfunction due to lack of exposure to herbicide agents during service. The Veteran's claims were not granted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection on the merits are being remanded due to new evidence and development needs. The maximum disability rating for tinnitus has already been assigned.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, prostate cancer, ischemic heart disease, right lower extremity peripheral artery disease, left lower extremity peripheral artery disease, and hypertension as the evidence did not establish an in-service event or exposure to herbicide agents.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's bilateral lower and upper extremity neuropathies, finding that they are related to his in-service herbicide exposure (Agent Orange).
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